Michael, sat in the back of the class and was never a very attentive student. He liked to gaze out the window, draw on his desk, or stare blankly at his notebook when it came time to write notes. It turns out his vision was poor and since he sat in the last row he had a hard time seeing the board. Though I still struggled to keep him engaged in class, I noticed a difference in his attention span after receiving glasses. He was more responsive and I slowly found ways to motivate him. Wearing glasses, by no means, miraculously solves student behavior. However, it is a small step to providing students with simple solutions to help them along the way.

In March of this year, my team at Laoying Middle School decided to embark on a campaign to bring eye exams and free glasses to the students of Laoying. Thanks to the kind support and donations from friends and family all over the world, we collectively raised about $2000 dollars!

All students were given eye exams and in the end, we provided 97 students with free glasses.

I had always wanted to wear glasses. Perhaps for vanity reasons, my dad wore glasses, and my sister wore glasses. I would go with my sister to visit the eye doctor and intentionally fail the tests with hopes that I could look just like her. What surprised me was how excited these students were to receive glasses. I recall classmates I grew up with complaining about wearing glasses or begging their parents for contacts. Nobody wanted to be “four eyes,” but at Laoying there was none of that. Students were able to pick their own unique frames, laugh with their friends, and confidently see the blackboard clearly as they pressed on their studies.